Oppose the porno-scanners. Write a letter (but not to Washington).

I have a friend — very non-political — who loves to travel. But even she, who basically trusts government to do the right thing, was nervous about the porno-scanners now being deployed for the benefit of the security industry and peeping Toms in the TSA.

Somehow this topic came up while she and I were on a long drive Friday. She said she longed to return to her favorite country in Asia but “didn’t want anybody looking at my boobs hanging halfway down to my waist.” But! Then she recently saw a news item on TV that included video footage of the scans. “Oh. Not so bad!” she thought. “Those don’t show anything too awful. Just vague fuzzy shapes with no details.”

I had to tell her that she was seeing doctored images, and that the real scans were so clear that TSA porno-peepers could, for instance, tell if a man was circumcised. Her face fell as far as the boobs she was so worried about.

On a roll (and having recently written an article on the subject*), I went on about the TSA’s other lies — about the machines not having the capacity to store or transmit images, about possible health problems.I talked about being singled out for extra screening the one and only time I’ve flown in the last 13 years, and how stupid the criteria were. I told her I probably wouldn’t be flying again. Not if I could help it.

Then she asked me one of those put-your-money-where-your-mouth-is questions: “Well, did you speak up when they made you go through extra screening?”

“No,” I said. “I didn’t think it would do any good.” (All I did was make a flippant remark. They chose me for extra screening because I was wearing loose cotton pants with baggy pockets. Baggy pockets are apparently inherently suspicious, even though in my case the fabric was so light that the single mint I carried visibly weighed one of them down.)

“Well have you written letters to people in charge telling them you object to the scanners?”

Sigh. I replied, “Writing letters to Washington doesn’t do any good. There’s too much money in airport ‘security.’ I definitely blog about the problem, hoping to raise awareness. But you’re living in the nineteenth century. Nobody in DC politics or bureaucracy pays attention to letters from a few disgruntled citizens.” But. Then I told her about this one letter I’d seen on LewRockwell.com, not written to the government but to the the Walt Disney company. It asked, politely, please tell me how I can take my children to Walt Disney World when I can’t possibly put them through porno-scanners or allow strangers to grope their crotches. In other words, this is your problem. It’s going to hit your bottom line. It’s for the children. Solve it.

Maybe, I said, if bloggers started printing the addresses of the bosses of the top 10 tourist destinations in the U.S., and if thousands of people said they’d regretfully have to boycott those places because of the scanners and the “enhanced groping” (reportedly to begin at the end of this month for those who refuse scans) it could make a difference. Then money would talk to money and something might get done.

We talked about what the 10 destinations might be. But it quickly became apparent that you didn’t need 10. The original letter writer, Arthur M.M. Krolman, had it right. All you need to do is get a letter-writing campaign going toward the Walt Disney company. Focus on the one big one. Make it for the children. And if enough people get behind it, the media will pick it up. And you won’t need to write to the other 9 destinations because they’ll get the message, loud and clear without a word being written to them.

Now, I’m not an organizer of campaigns. But I would like to see other, bigger blogs pick up this idea. So I’m going to send this link to a few other bloggers and/or online freedomista news sources. I hope you’ll do the same. In the right hands, it could Start A Movement.

If you have children, or if you yourself love an occasional trip to Disney World or Disneyland, use the contact infomation on Mr. Krolman’s original letter to write one of your own expressing regret that, as long as scanners or crotch gropes are part of travel, sorry but you just aren’t going. Then copy that letter to your local media outlets. And USA Today or CNN. Send it to friendly bloggers or to columnists who’ve shown that they care about privacy and/or the Bill of Rights.

Maybe nothing will come of it. Or maybe the only result will be some rule exempting children under 12 from being scanned or some such. But even at that, the public consciousness-raising could still be tremendous, and the long-term impact powerful. We could give people the knowledge and courage to resist.Possibly some lonely soul who’d been afraid to resist or object will suddenly realize he’s not alone. And every individual who asserts his or her own rights is worth having. Worth a try. Let the Walt Disney Company know that if they don’t want to lose customers, they’d better pressure the fedgov to lose the porno-scanners and the groping.

83 Comments

Kent McManigalOctober 25, 2010 9:11 am

I see no difference between scanning with “Molest-o-vision” and groping children “for security” and doing it on a freelance basis by someone the State salivates over hanging out to dry for his perversion. If one is a crime, so is the other, and all those who view the images on the job need to be added to the government’s sex-offender list. No double standards.

ScottOctober 25, 2010 9:23 am

Surveillance will *always* be misused by those using it-no exceptions. Why stop at Disneyworld? Write all the tourist hotspots. Maybe even the state of Florida? The state’s almost completely tourist dependent.The state may listen if they think it’s gonna cost’em money. It never occured to me that children would get such a scan-that is creepy,and,face it-what sort of person would do such a thing to a child? Creep factor goes up by orders of magnitude. I haven’t been on a plane since the early 90’s-they let me take my Swiss Army knife on board last time I flew..

ClaireOctober 25, 2010 9:46 am

Scott, I totally agree with you about this misuse of “security.” The reason I suggest targeting Disney World is simply this: That by choosing one highly visible target, a successful letter-writing campaign would send a message to ALL. Because, after all, the message isn’t just “I won’t take the kids to Disney.” It’s “I won’t take the kids anywhere we’d have to fly.” If, instead, people were to diffuse their efforts by writing to 10 or 20 or 30 different companies (or state tourist boards), the impact would also be diffused. Disney World is symbolic of them all. I think the original letter writer had it correct. Also, which would most people rather do: write one letter or 30?

If anybody wants to write to a hundred places, I say go for it. But as a campaign hoping to garner media attention — one.

Kent — ditto. And I have no doubt at all that pedophiles will be lining up for TSA jobs — if they aren’t already.

Kevin WilmethOctober 25, 2010 10:26 am

Interesting idea. It’s got merit because it’s voluntary, and because it is arguably non-aggressive. Yeah, it might get sticky if there are any direct calls for political action, but if it actively promotes removing political coercion, we may have us a net gain.

And, this is another example of Claire highlighting a human approach to the political problem. We need that skill now more than ever.

Worth mulling over!

BroganOctober 25, 2010 11:37 am

Write letters not only to the tourist destinations but to the airlines themselves. No passengers = No money = no airlines. I refuse to fly until those cancer causing molester machines are removed!!!

NOctober 25, 2010 12:10 pm

Decent enough idea, but I’m guessing it’ll only partially work. The Feds will just then change the policy to say “kids won’t be scanned”.

bumperwackOctober 25, 2010 1:18 pm

hey-if the marshalls have me shackled, do I stll have to be radiated?

naturegirlOctober 25, 2010 1:34 pm

I agree with Brogan, and think that the airlines will probably panic faster than Disneyopoly will…..

EllendraOctober 25, 2010 8:45 pm

Posted to a news-discussion forum. Hope it takes off.

DefenderOctober 25, 2010 9:15 pm

I like the idea. Disney and other attractions like it are suffering now because of the economy. Like every national corporation, they push and push more to increase their share of our disposable income and hate to see even a .001-percent drop in revenue.
After I saw the TSA require a 70-year-old decorated veteran to get out of his wheelchair and WALK through the metal detectors, then drop his pants — behind a GLASS partition — even though he had a letter from his surgeon about a knee replacement, I wrote the airport commission, the airline and my congressional representatives. They all said everything was done “according to policy and procedure.”
When you get to those exotic foreign destinations, it looks just like the photos in the brochure. I won’t be flying again.

[…] Wolfe has an interesting solution on the path to getting rid of the porno scanners. Living Freedom Blog Archive Oppose the porno-scanners. Write a letter (but not to Washington). __________________ […]

MamaLibertyOctober 26, 2010 8:48 am

Good idea. I don’t fly anymore, have never been to Disney World (don’t plan on it either), and I don’t generally write letters – but what the heck. Can’t hurt.

And I see some great entrepreneurial opportunities for charter flights. We even have a nice little airport where I live. 🙂

[…] Claire Wolfe has an interesting solution on the path to getting rid of the porno scanners. Living Freedom Blog Archive Oppose the porno-scanners. Write a letter (but not to Washington). Well here is my draft of my letter to disney regarding thi issue. Comments, suggestions? […]

The real JFK opposed a secret society as having no place among a free people. Why should the gov’t get to see our “privy parts” in their secret viewing while we see nothing of them?

Accordingly I propose a new law “Any State that has an airport utilizing the porno-scanners must have every elected official pass through one and the images posted on the internet for public viewing.” It is the old “I will show you mine if you show me yours.” Let’s see if we can get every State to have a movement to pass such laws. We may have the wind at our backs on this one. And with all the focus LRC has had in making this issue prominent I think it would be perfect for the impetus for such State laws to originate on the pages of LRC.

What think ye?

CalOctober 26, 2010 10:44 pm

I’m amazed that the scanners were employed. Even I didn’t think the public would roll over for this one, but given enough government lies, the sheeple will follow.

Yes–write the airlines too. Tell them you are boycotting travel for both pleasure and business. To some extent, even employees working for large corporations can throttle back their travel. Hit the airlines where it hurts! Obviously aruguments based on morality don’t work.

SnowbellOctober 26, 2010 10:49 pm

Good idea, good start. I´ll do it. This whole issue is not just about dignity but also about freedom to travel. Exempting kids would of course be good, but this involves all of us, regardless of age.

ideaOctober 26, 2010 11:25 pm

under the freedom of information act can you not get a list of tsa and other people involved in the perversion so they can be checked against sexual offense data bases? it seems that the job is attracting them like flies to “S##t”.

since they are breaking the constitution and any law of decency they are criminals and sexual predators. Let everyone in their communities know about what they are doing. They do have a choice.

DougOctober 27, 2010 4:49 am

Be sure to include in the letter that you won’t tolerate your wife being ogled and groped either. That weakens the idea of a law exempting kids.

ww rutlandOctober 27, 2010 5:12 am

I read about the scanners and gropers all the time. I do fly 2 or 3 times a year and don’t mind being scanned or groped. I have both knees replaced and know i will be groped – I even tell them I have metal in me to get it over with and movethe line along. I just keep hoping it’s one of the few cute women who do it.
I don’t want to be on a plane where some bottom feeding religious thug sticks C-4 in a wheelchair and blows me out or the sky or pulls a knife from that baby stroller and I have to fight him at 30,000 feet, everyone in a knife fight gets cut!
One of the safest airlines in the world is Israeli and they search you and your bags before you get to the terminal. I want everyone to be groped or scanned and I’ll help if needed. WWR SF ret. http://wwrutland.wordpress.com

mark edward marchiafavaOctober 27, 2010 5:52 am

Brogan and the others are echoing what I’ve been preaching since Day One: don’t fly. Not only don’t fly, tell the airlines why.
Single out the most financially weakest of the bunch, target/boycott them into Chapter 11.
Guarantee the other airlines WILL sit up and take notice.
The time for being nice is over. Sorry, mom.

steveOctober 27, 2010 6:00 am

ww rutland – Israeli airports may search your bags but in case you don’t know Israeli airports don’t use porno scanners. Their top security officer has said they are completely ineffective as he could sneak enough explosives by them to blow any plane out of the sky. This is only about embarrasment, fear, and government control.

I am writing for your advice about how to get my daughter to Disney World in Orlando and still retain my pride and dignity. We had hoped to fly to your resort this winter (she is a part of a high school choral group slated to present a program), but I am hesitant to participate in the new TSA “security theater.”
My daughter is newly 16 and blond. She is now offered a choice of having her nude photograph taken (and reviewed at their leisure) at the airport or having a VERY personal body search by a uniformed stranger. I am less concerned about my own fate, but I struggle with the choice presented to her – perhaps we could drive (or just pass on this opportunity).
I hope that your family resorts don’t suffer too much from the new, improved impositions on travelers. I’m sure that next year, the barriers will become even more daunting.
I welcome any advice you may have for your customers.

Sincerely,

JB

JeffOctober 27, 2010 6:18 am

This is an excellent idea. In addition, like many others, I receive a good bit of travel-related promotional email from resorts, airlines, cruiselines, etc., many of which I’ve used in the past. It should become habit to respond to those emails with the “Disney” letter.

WyoDutchOctober 27, 2010 6:27 am

There are always people willing to trade privacy, freedom and even self-respect for a whiff of “safety”. … If we weren’t such hypocrites here in America, we’d remove “Land of the Free… Home of the Brave” from our national anthem.

gadflewOctober 27, 2010 6:36 am

Why not a letter campaign to the airlines themselves?

GinneeOctober 27, 2010 6:36 am

Why don’t all of you, every flight passenger just say NO WAY!!! at the airport. What if everyone in the airport refused to be cattle??? Butch up people, get off your knees, stick together and refuse to be bullied!!!

Write your letters…, write your airline….but you and I do not need Disney or American Airlines… to stand up for our own rights. Your mouth still works. I don’t need to stick a child in front of me as an excuse. NO WAY, F the machine!!!! I am a human being, I am not drinking the Kool-Aid, and I am not going to be marched to the showers, nor the chamber!!!!

Now strap on a set and get vocal at the airport!

AnonOctober 27, 2010 6:47 am

I personally plan to pretend to enjoy the groping, just to make them angry. “Is your hand wet? OK, good. Sorry about that. I just got a little excited.”

BroganOctober 27, 2010 7:10 am

@ww rutland

When was the last REAL terror attack on Americans? I’m talking collateral damage, injuries, deaths and not an almost situation like the underwear bomber or the Times Square dud. When since 9/11 has there been one attack where this kind of invasive and dangerous screening is justified? Israeli could arguably justify the scanners as they have a real terror threat and terror attacks are an almost daily occurrence. Yet they don’t have any of those scanners in use. Why is that?

Cui bono “To whose benefit?” Follow the money… Look who owns stock in the full body scanner companies. Michael Chertoff, Former Department of Homeland Security and chief whole-body scanner cheerleader. Chertoff is shamelessly lobbying for more machines and selling them to our legislators. The more Rapiscan machines that OSI Systems, American Science & Engineering, Inc. (AS&E) or L3 Communications sells to the government the better the stockholders and lobbyist like Chertoff make out. They count the money while you count the tumors. Still feel safer with them?

If enough people adopt this ‘to protect against radiation exposure’, are they going to rethink their scanner policy or will they be exposed as wanting you naked?

Maybe some promotion of this and/or aluminum foil lined undies while travelling?

zachOctober 27, 2010 7:24 am

Unfortunately, about 99% of people go through the scanners. Nothing can be done.

Canis LatusOctober 27, 2010 7:47 am

Just because ww rutland likes being groped, and even wants to help others do the groping, doesn’t mean that we non-deviants ought to be persuaded that it’s acceptable. Let rutland hook-up in the restroom for his jollies and leave the rest of us out of it. The “alternate lifestyle” set get away with too much of their disgusting behavior as it is; time to shame them back into the shadows, especially if they work for the government.

I suspect that many parents are unaware that Disney’s management have installed scanners and gropers at their parks. If their children had high expectations of visiting one of the parks, it would be difficult for parents to disappoint them by refusing to permit the offensive intrusions. Disney execs are pitting the children against their parents, which, in itself, ought to get them on the blacklist of vacation destinations. Also, are the scanners and gropers stationed inside or outside the ticket booths? If inside, the repulsive surprise might be aggravated by problems getting ticket money refunded. The last time I was at Disney World, it was so filthy, I wouldn’t even consider going back. Walt Disney is surely rotating in his grave.

Long-term, the whole scan/grope procedure is likely intended as another means of de-sensitizing the populace to offenses by the state against their persons. Who wants their kids to believe that it’s O.K. for a government agent to fondle them as a condition of exercising their rights? (Is that what’s coming next in the public schools?) How many biological parents out there want their kids to grow up to be homosexuals? For that matter, how many parents want their kids to grow up and take a job peeping and groping other people for a living? The people who take those jobs are just as suspect as the registered sex offenders allegedly monitored by the police.

One should not hesitate to file, with state prosecutors, sexual battery charges against a TSA agent who gets physical; the federal government cannot immunize its agents against state crimes. It’s fair to tell a TSA agent, up front, “if you touch my body, I will charge you with assault and sexual battery”, then follow through. Having a waiting line full of victims at the prosecutor’s office will start getting some attention, especially if the media are alerted.

Deprivation of rights by a state/federal agent is a federal crime (Title 18, United States Code, section 241). File a complaint with the U.S. attorney in your district (exercising your right to petition for a redress of grievance). Draft a succinct, wholly-truthful, sworn affidavit and mail it, if you can’t go in person. Get other victims to join you (exercising your right peaceably to assemble). Make-up pamphlets and hand them out to others at the airports (exercising your right to free speech).

If no one objects to these offenses, the government has every reason to believe that you don’t care enough to object. So OBJECT! Every lawful way that you can.

Courage!

Short Bus Special OpsOctober 27, 2010 7:52 am

Rutland suffers from a debilitating disease known as “inner sissy”. Anyone who posts pictures of themselves on their website in army suits and in guns and doing karate. I’m sure you all know people like this. Note that he claims to be afraid of being blown up on an airplane by a guy with C-4 in his wheelchair. To say that Rutland has been successfully programmed is the understatement of all time. A green beret, karate expert, afraid of some HOBGOBLIN cripple strapped to a rolling bomb. Hilarious.

He also must have been the worst soldier ever. How many dopes spend 20 years in the military only to turn around and promote giving away our most basic freedoms. Coming back to the highly likely scenario of bomb strapped cripples as his justification. Something that is almost as common as knife fights on airplanes, which he also fears.

Folks, even when you read a sensible and intelligent article like this you have to expect that not everyone reading lives up to that standard.

MetaCynicOctober 27, 2010 7:59 am

These scanners emit a dangerous level of radiation. Once this fact penetrates the minds of the doltish TSA gropers and voyeurs working in the vicinity of these scanners, they will demand some kind of protection. Maybe the equally doltish public will wake up to at least the health risks if not the human rights violations of being scanned when they see intrepid TSA employees clothed in lead suits!

RachelOctober 27, 2010 8:05 am

While I like the Disney letter idea, I have long thought as Ginnee stated. Having minored in Peace and Conflict Resolution at KSU I studied passive resistance and the cases where it has been used effectively. The theory behind massive and widespread passive resistance is, they can only arrest so many.
One has to accept the possibility of leaders being arrested and prepared for others to step into those leadership roles but eventually, the occupying “army” must face the fact that there isn’t enough man power available to them to control the masses.
When individuals protest at the airport they are taken away and no one is the wiser until it hits the 10 o’clock news or a blog post. But 200? How about a 1000? Now, if I were the TSA or any related officious idiot alphabet soup agency, I’d call in reinforcement from local law enforcement but again, will they call in the SWAT? Against an airport full of travelers, women, children, the elderly?
As I write this I answer my questions silently and say, “yes, our government would and could turn weapons on the citizenry.” They own the media and could spin the action to say the airport was taken hostage by a few and the resulting melee was a consequence of their trying to “rescue” the hostages. It could happen. But I think if the refusal appeared to have no leaders, appeared to be spontaneous … the odds of success would be greater. And there in lies the problem. The older I get, (40 this year), the more I am forced to realize the majority of our fellow citizens think only of themselves and their needs. In an airport scenario you have people lining up like lambs to the slaughter without saying a word because they’ve just purchased a non-refundable and expensive airline ticket. They may have reservations at a resort or a cruise, also non-refundable. This might be there only vacation time for the year. They just want to get through the idiocy as quickly as possible so they can enjoy what little pleasure they’ve earned after a year of hardwork and sacrifice. They are not going to jeopordize that by standing up for their rights.
Looking at the hidden infringements, and since the Patriot Act not so hidden infringements, that have crept across our country for decades I have often shaken my head and wondered what would our founders think? But lately I’ve come to realize they would not be so very surprised by the sheeple and their acceptance of tyranny. You see, the patriots of so long ago ultimately put their lives on the line for what they believed but before that, for many years before the actual revolt they had risked their reputations, their businesses, lost friendships, and even family relationships. They were protesting all of the things the crown inflicted upon them, Stamp Acts, limits on personal property, prohibitions for expansion west; they wrote pamphlets and distributed them at great personal risk, they held meetings at taverns and in fellow believers’ homes, they sought out like minded souls but they were never so numerous in number until shots rang out and the British responded with force enough to shake the populace out of their comfort zones. Many answered the cry at that point because the threat was immediate and likely to become personal but it took those men, and I hope some women, to create the spark.
I thought the Tea Party might have acted as that spark but they have been inflitrated by Republican party leaders who seek to bring them back into the fold; for their votes, nothing more. Nothing will change after the election, we will just have a new passel of thieves in the den. Worse, they are war mongering and military industry stock holding theives.
But … I do agree with Ginnee, people have to stand up, in mass, and say There are more of us than there are of you and we’re not going to take it any more. I just don’t see it happening because we have no leaders anymore.
I have dreamed of going to England since I was a small child. I have scrimped and saved and was planning to take my nine year old daughter next year. Unless my research shows I can take a flight out of Canada and not be subjected to the scanners and molestation my dream will die. I won’t fly nor will I ever allow anyone to touch my child, I will die first.

I started planning a trip to Disney World a few months ago as a surprise for my grandchildren during their spring break next year. Fortunately I didn’t share this information with them or their parents, as I have decided that the trip must be permanently canceled. There is no point in shelling out lots of money for this vacation, only to have it ruined at the very beginning, as I simply cannot and will not subject my grandchildren or myself to the appalling and invasive molestation of full body scanners and/or body searches at the airports. This policy is an open invitation for perverts and pedophiles to flock to the airports and apply for these jobs.

I have decided to make reservations to Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio, and will DRIVE all of us to that destination instead. I was so looking forward to the trip to Orlando, and really wish that Disney World was in the cards, but that won’t be possible because of reasons outlined above. As long as these ridiculous and perverted measures are in place at the airports, my vacation dollars will be spent here in the great state of Texas on car trips, and I will encourage everyone I know to do the same.

I am one disappointed grandmother, but my family’s and my own privacy and peace of mind is of paramount importance, and I am certain that you can understand my feelings about this if you are a parent and/or grandparent yourself.

Sincerely,

CG

Kitty Antonik WakferOctober 27, 2010 8:35 am

Why limit one’s disapproval of intense/intrusive airport security measures to just the scanners and making this known in letters to major tourist destination sites for the sake of “the children”? There is a lot more to all of this than gets published in most (?all?) mainstream media and at many blog sites.

Don’t like the fabricated fear and/or “security theater”? – both government productions. Do *not* fly commercial airlines unless in-person presence is essential *and* quickly, and let it be known *why* you are doing so. Don’t just grumble about the scanners and probers while continuing to fly when you do *not* absolutely have to do so. And when taking a trip by air *is* necessary, do not submit meekly to scanning and/or probing. Strongly consider making your objection to the entire “security theater” process verbally known to all within earshot. Accept the least objectionable (to you) method available, but make it loudly clear that it is *only* because you *must* be at your destination in a short period of time – otherwise you’d drive, walk, sail, swim, etc.

When even larger numbers of people take fewer flights (or none at all), the airlines will be motivated to make their own waves with the federal government – diminishing revenues make a difference. And of course the process will necessarily need to include open discussion of the *reasons* for why flights into certain areas may carry with them more risk – why travel to/within the USA has more potential for “terrorist activity” than, for instance, to/within Switzerland (when not from USA). I don’t think there are terrorists out to wreak havoc on the Swiss people… their government hasn’t been out dictating to and/or invading most of the rest of the world.

Additionally, I strongly suggest withdrawing voluntary association with any TSA or other Homeland Security enforcer.
Please keep something in mind. The politicians and bureaucrats – rulers – do *not* get out into the field and enforce their own legislation/decrees/mandates/etc. Instead they depend on the enforcers to do the dirty work. Therefore the enforcers are the key! Politicians and bureaucrats simply talk and write, even when it is to give orders.

Consequently the route with highest level and longest term potential for change is for large numbers of the non-enforcer population (which is the majority!) to make known to the enforcers they know personally their own dislike of government decrees/mandate/etc enforcement *and* why – the physical harm that is done to persons and/or property being a simple statement to make. For those enforcers who disregard such an approach (which recommended should include offers of assistance in finding a truly productive job) and continue in their positions, withdrawal of voluntary association is the appropriate next action, making it known to others so that they too can withdraw their association, adding to the persuasive effects. To continue voluntary association with such government enforcers is hypocritical of anyone who is opposed to these actions.

rallenOctober 27, 2010 9:06 am

airlines are seeing big increases in numbers of passengers, full planes, charging all kinds of add-on fees and making some money now.

does anyone really think the scanners are ever going away no matter how many letters you write to whomever you write them too? I don’t.

just don’t fly, or prepare to be (mildly) groped by opting out of the scans.

What Is Right, What Is Easy « Em SpeaksOctober 27, 2010 9:22 am

[…] by emspeaks Today, I was perusing the daily updates to my favorite website, which linked to this fascinating blog post about what we can do about the disgusting new Advanced Imaging Technology full-body scanners that […]

PhilOctober 27, 2010 9:49 am

If you really want to get the airlines to pay attention, send in the gas reciepts for a long road trip you took instead of flying. Send them to the President and Board of Directors of airlines who handle that route. Nothing inpacts them more than the bottom line. That will get thier attention.

John Boanerges RedmanOctober 27, 2010 9:57 am

I’m sorry to not be reading the responses but here is my take on this. Ionizing radiation is bad for you (yes, that has been proven). Someone without your permission subjecting you to ionizing radiation constitutes assault (with a deadly weapon). Sue their asses. ALSO, quit patronizing the creeps that aid and abet it. ALSO, quit participating in earthly government – stop paying for it, voting for it, labeling yourself as a ‘citizen’ of it, taking advantage of its ‘services’. Martin Luther used Christ’s words to musically inform us to “Let goods and kindred go, This mortal life also, The body they may kill, God’s Truth abideth still, His Kingdom is forever.”

The problem is that the federal courts have ruled that since planes are private property, then we peons voluntarily WAIVE any right to 4th Amendment protection.
However this can be challenged via challenging this “voluntary subjection requirement” as a “contract of adhesion–” i.e. a contract which we were never given the oppoprtunity to negotiate; here, we would argue that air-travel is a relative NECESSITY in the modern world, and therefore such a “subjection to search” requirement constitutes a deprivation of liberty, by infringing on our freedom of movement.

Under this legal premise, these “implied voluntary consent to search” conditions on our flying, are NOT voluntary, since they are COERCED via the airline’s unfair bargaining power, thus making it unconscionable boilerplate–” and therfore VOID under standard contract-law, because we can’t simply “take our busness elsewhere” when ALL airlines have these requirements.

We therefore need to file a federal lawsuit against all airlines that do business in the United States, in order to outlaw these voluntary-search regulations as violations of the 4th amendment rights to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, and our 5th amendment right against deprivations of liberty– as well as our 14th amendment rights to be free from BOTH.

I’ll be honest: I am quite certain that no one will EVER hijack a flight again, since no one will cooperate now that the hijackers have set a precedent for suicide-missions; notice that “the underwear bomber” didn’t try to HIJACK the plane, just to denotate himself in a bathroom… and failed.

I also know from George Washington that government is “not reason, only force–” and that it will use every opportunity to impose MORE force against us, against all reason.

Therefore we need to fight back against government by filing a federal lawsuit based on airlines imposing unconscionable conditions on our flying– and there are few more unconscionable conditions than subjecting ourselves to unreasonable searches and siezures, and/or deprivations of liberty and property (and, sometimes, LIFE), simply becausue the government it too incompetent to do its job under reasonable circumstances.

There are far more reasonable means for ensuring safety (such as screening passengers, private watch-lists etc); but who needs them when you’ve got a federal carte-blanche– and a nation of SHEEP willing to bend over and grab their ankles– or else simply stick to ground-transportation? (And even better, APPLAUD while the government does it to someone ELSE?)

Brian McCandlissOctober 27, 2010 11:21 am

P.S. While a boycott isn’t a bad idea, it’s more about MIGHT than right. However I’m sure that Disney and other national resort-locations are feeling the pinch just fine due to ailine-fascism, and they’re not going to risk stick their bureaucratic necks out to do anything to stop it.

We concerned citizens need to draw the line, and STOP this cycle of government incompetence leading to government getting more power, and vice-versa; the GOVERNMENT dropped the ball on 9/11, NOT THE PEOPLE.
And we’re NOT going to take the fall for it by giving up our freedom– or be emotionally blackmailed into doing so under arguments of “patriotism” which are actually bald-faced acts of STALINISM.

claireOctober 27, 2010 11:28 am

Mass boycot of the airlines is the only answer. No one flies. Period. Like the sort of things done during the Civil Rights era.

When the airlines see their planes sitting empty, day after day, they will beg TSA to stop. I’ve noticed the cops seem to have a special ‘grudge’ against women these days.

Just find another way to travel.

Roger.October 27, 2010 11:30 am

I really like the Disney idea.

A modest suggestion. ALWAYS follow the MONEY!

Send the same letter to the Chamber of Commerce/Board of Tourism in Las Vegas, NV. They are already hurting in Vegas. Tell them that scannning and groping is keeping people away, and it will be over.

Harry Reid even knows who butters his bread.

Oppose the porno-scanners. Write a letter but not to Washington. « harqueb.usOctober 27, 2010 12:08 pm

[…] via Living Freedom » Blog Archive » Oppose the porno-scanners. Write a letter but not to Washington.. […]

VickieOctober 27, 2010 12:51 pm

I have also written a trade association for tourist hotels, an airline and a touring company that I regret not being able to use their services because the idea of being strip searched would ruin any vacation. All it probably takes is a drop in business of 10-20% and we could get muscle behind our campaign.

MontanaDawgOctober 27, 2010 12:59 pm

@ShortBusSpecialOps:

You got it SO right about Rutland-vet or not, SF or not-he’s a disgrace to the oath he swore when he joined…”I want everyone to be groped or scanned and I’ll help if needed”. Seig heil…

@Rachel:

Magnificently stated! If I weren’t engaged and also old enough to be your Dad I’d ask you to marry me…

@rallen:

Are you really naive enough to believe there will always be an “opt-out” option? “Steve” is right-this IS about fear and control.

Watch for the phaseout of opt-out within a couple of years at best.

Plenty of time to get that cancer insurance policy into effect even with the “no benefits paid if you croak in the first two years of coverage” clause they will probably all soon carry due to the jump in ionizing-radiation-caused tumors the frequent-flier crowd will be sprouting…

“Mass boycot of the airlines is the only answer. No one flies. Period.”

That’s no answer.

First of all, airlines have just blamed the “public’s fear of terrorists” for their sagging numbers, and thence lobbied– successfuly– for federal corporate-welfare subsidies. The notion of people avoiding flying because of airport-Stalinism and their mistreatment of passengers, is simply not within their realm of possibility– in fact, they were actually THRILLED on 9/11 since the “Passengers Bill of Rights” died on that day along with the people. That’s right: they CELEBRATED it, as anyone inside the airlines can tell you.
So clearly, passengers avoiding air-travel isn’t something they’re going to associate with their mistreatment– the fact that we even NEEDED a “passengers bill of rights” in Congress, should tell you that

Likewise, a100% boycott is NEVER going to happen– you can strip-search everybody, and they’ll still file in like sheep, saying “REMEMBER 9-11!” and other jingoistic sheep-bleating that it’s treason to refuse to trade your liberty for security (particularly when it’s not even heeded in other countries, ala the underwear-bomber who waltzed right in because some mook wearing a turban said he needed to get on the flight.

There’s a weird “herding-instinct” that sheeple have, i.e. the more liberty you take from them, the prouder they are to give it up, since protest will make more trouble for them if they have less freedom, and if they cooperate then they think things will go better. It’s like a frog in a pot of water: the hotter it gets, the less he’s willing to move in order to keep from getting hotter.

And like I said, flying is a NECESSITY for many people in the modern world; there’s simply no alternative that’s fast enough.

As I said, a federal lawsuit against adhesion-contracts is the most logical recourse, since this entire debacle is based on their claim that flying is a voluntary– i.e. OPTIONAL– activity, which is not the case; that would be like saying that a 5mph speed-limit on all roads “doesn’t restrict freedom” since you can “still go wherever ou want, just not as fast.” Delaying travel is definitely infringing on it; and therefore such adehisive contracts on all commercial air-travel is constructive delay of all travel to ground-transportation speeds.

Therefore the only way that the court could refuse, is if they said that these searches were reasonable– which of course is ridiculous even for them.

gregOctober 27, 2010 2:11 pm

I had to travel through Dallas recently and I wound up being waved into the Nude-O-Vision. I declined as per the sign that stated that it was my right to choose a body pat down instead. I was rewarded with a snide look from the female agent and told “Stand over there”
The pat down was pretty innocuous and at least does no long term damage. However, I guess the loonies in the TSA didn’t feel the back-of-hand search was sufficiently humiliating, so now they’re “test marketing” a more aggressive grope (see http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/constitution/4406-tsa-test-markets-more-agressive-frisking)

They will never be satisfied until passengers are handcuffed nude to their seats.

TimOctober 27, 2010 2:19 pm

Writing a letter won’t help. It doesn’t matter if you mail it to Washington or Orlando, the National Security State won’t back off.

They’re boiling frogs, you see?

First it was “stand in line and take off your shoes”, then it was “submit to unreasonable search and seizure of your person and property” and the confiscation of said property no matter how unoffensive it is (nail clippers, anyone?). Now it’s “walk through the machine that is powerful enough to let us see through all of your clothes, but don’t worry, your freedom, dignity, and health are all the more secure because of it.”

If they’d gone to the porno-scanners ten years ago, or even right after 9-11-2001, people would have made a fuss. Now there’s naught but a whimper. The population has been acclimated. And, you know what? It’s what most folks want, so I say that they deserve what they get. I just won’t fly, and I suggest that anyone else who values his (or her) freedom and dignity to do the same.

Of course, roadside checkpoints with mobile porn scans can’t be far off. At what point do you start to defend yourself from predators, and how far are you willing to go?

That’s what I’m asking myself these days…

J.C.October 27, 2010 2:41 pm

You do know that Italy has stopped using the scanners? If one country can say “No”, so can others. Includuing us, the land of the free.

Dan O'ConnellOctober 27, 2010 2:47 pm

I’ve been a fan of Claire Wolfe for going on 20 years i think. But of couse the big issue here is everybody “falling for it” i.e. the 911 false flag inside job attack if people could face the truth about that it would be a whole new ball game. Talk about your brainwashed sheeple like rutland.

ScottOctober 27, 2010 2:48 pm

The invasion of privacy is enough to be appalled by what passes for “security” these days, but I also worry about women who are pregnant but do not yet realize that fact going through these scanners and possibly harming their fetuses. Or those naive people who believe the government when they are told that the radiation is harmless. No radiation is harmless. It has a cumulative effect. How very sad when we all know that this is really being done to enrich some politically connected companies and, frankly, is just for show.

There must be some doctors out there who could make a fuss about the radiation. Maybe a push to get TSA workers to wear radiation monitors — for their own good, of course — would wake up even some of the TSA drones. And if their radiation monitors were telling them that they are being exposed to dangerous levels of radiation over time, that would be story that would make people think twice.

Of course, they would still employ the sexual molestation gropings, but it’s a start.

I guess it wouldn’t hurt to make and spread jokes about TSA employees being sexual predators and pedophiles and basically shaming decent people away from even applying for those jobs. Just don’t make any jokes at the airport! We all know that airports are “no free speech” zones.

ScottOctober 27, 2010 2:59 pm

Despite the objections of Brian, who makes some reasonable points, I do think that not flying will help. I have chosen not to fly again, even if that means missing a wedding or a funeral. If I can’t drive there, I’m not going. If I had a job that required me to fly, I would get another job. If a pilot, such as the heroic Michael Roberts, can stand up to the B.S., when flying IS his job, why can’t everyone else have some backbone? I think the airlines would be smart enough to figure out that we aren’t avoiding airplanes because we were afraid of terrorists.

PatOctober 27, 2010 3:35 pm

Brian, I don’t think you get the picture.

A lawsuit is still “working within the system.” A barrage of letter-writing, protesting, boycotting (and shunning!), refusing to submit to official voyeuring, and challenging the policies and procedures of government-kissing companies, will override the system and hopefully short-circuit it.

We have to start somewhere. If we’re not going to shoot the bastards, we can at least tie them up and leave them hoisted on their own petard. To waste money in the courts will gain nothing; the court doesn’t recognize “reasonable” interpretations. Refusing to fly or visit Disney World — refusing to sanction TSA, or to feed tourism in any way — is the ONLY thing they’ll understand. Now, with holidays coming up, would be an especially good time to hit companies in their pocketbooks — and let TSA take the blame at the same time.

I hope this idea goes viral; it may be the “stimulus” this country needs.

No, YOU don’t get the picture that we live in a corporate oligarchy, not a free market where the customer is always right. Likewise, we live in a nation of brainwashed sheep, not a constitutionally-limited republic of informed citizens who tenaciously guard their freedoms. Therefore the majority will continue to file through various searches and detentions, and the government will likewise subsidize the airline for monetary losses imposed by the rest of us who boycott.

However the legal system can work, provided one knows what they’re doing; unfortunately, very few people do– such as the state government of Arizona in keeping out illegals by setting criminal penalties for violating federal laws, rather than simply writing STATE laws that preclude illegals from being there.

The fact here, is that In US v Davis (F2d 910), the court ruled that “A person has the choice, as a matter of constitutional law, to submit to a search of her person and carry-on baggage, as a condition to boarding an airplane, or to leave. The passenger’s choice can be seen as either a decision to give up the right to leave or a decision to submit to the search.Either way, the choice is seen as “a ‘consent,’ granting the government a license to do what it would otherwise be barred from doing by the Fourth Amendment. This consent must be voluntary.”

However this consent cannot be voluntary, as it is coerced by limiting the person’s movement to ground-transportation, which is much slower– thus infringing on the person’s liberty in violation of the 5th Amendment.

Nor can such be “voluntary” in terms of consenting to the private contract with the airline (and its third-party associate of the airport), since all commercial airlines and airports impose these conditions on passengers; and therefore the contractual requirement that the consumer/passenger consent to a search as an a priori condition of the airline’s performance, creates a contract of adhesion; for this term is a) non-negotiated, as well as b) unconscionable in terms of superior bargaining-power of the airline, which is also c) a relative necessity in modern life and business, while likewise d) the consumer has no alternative via other airlines. Rather, such terms are well-defined as “boilerplate” when applied in the case of a consumer, and are thus characteristically ruled as inapplicable.

Since a person is not voluntarily consenting to a search, then the court must therefore extend full 4th Amendment protection to commercial airline-passengers, and thus treat airports like any other place in respecting a reasonable expectation of privacy; this will end the streak of airline-passengers being 2nd-class citizens on the grounds of implied consent to various searches and other infringements of various rights.

Brian McCandlissOctober 27, 2010 4:24 pm

Correction to above: the citation to US v Davis is 482 F2d 910.

bumperwackOctober 27, 2010 4:54 pm

“hell with them fellers…buzzards gotta eat, same as worms……..

Dylan FarnumOctober 27, 2010 5:24 pm

Hey, here’s an idea… DON”T FLY. You stupid faggots all incessantly whine about how the airlines are treating you, YET you continue to march right down there, day after day, and willingly subject yourselves to this shit. In fact, YOU EVEN PAY THEM TO DO IT. LOL. Why would they change anything? Why SHOULD they change anything?

ClaireOctober 27, 2010 6:06 pm

I’m approving Dylan Farnum’s email despite the namecalling because he makes a point worth talking about. But this blog has always been blessed with good, civil discussion, and I hope everybody will keep on keeping to the high ground. Thanks.

bumperwackOctober 27, 2010 6:26 pm

agreed, claire…totall boycott…never happen tho…

Paul BonneauOctober 27, 2010 6:46 pm

This is a great idea, especially writing the airlines. Even the pilots and stewards have to be getting mad about this. They would help bring pressure.

Unfortunately, getting rid of porno scanners won’t do it for me. I made just a single flight since they started with TSA, and that was enough for me. I’m done with flying, and I’m done with visiting the most facist places in America (outside the prisons) – the airports.

clarkOctober 27, 2010 8:05 pm

“Why SHOULD they change anything?”

Because it’s the right thing to do, that’s why.

Unless of course they really are evil as some have suggested?

To keep this sort of thing going in spite of what’s been pointed out here, what other conclusion is there?

I think this might be a great way to get rid of the naked body scanners that TSA is rolling out. But, I also think this technique would have severe promise in other areas. Maybe people could write letters to any government — state or local — that receives tax revenue from the several bosses in the tourist destinations mentioned as well? Let them know that, regrettably we cannot fly to their state, city, whatever this year to go to the popular places that pay big taxes because TSA wants to look at our naked children and wives. We might even mention that Chertoff was DHS Secretary and then moved into the body scanner business after he secured the related contracts. Including some documentation and such in the letters would help. To really heat things up, we could send the entire packet to the local television stations of the several destinations. I think that could be very effective..

Oppose the porno-scanners. Write a letter (but not to Washington). « In Pursuit of HappinessOctober 28, 2010 5:41 am

Does anyone know what level of radiation we are exposed to? TSA employees are screend by management. They are asked if they have a problem subjecting citizens to scanning and if they have a problem operating the scanners. This is done in an interview relating to possible promotion. If they have a problem they get laid-off. Nobody is protected from the radiation with lead shielding and nobody is wearing those radiation exposure cards.
@3 weeks ago the Border Patrol was using these back scatter xray device on semis on I35 in Atlanta. The Govt has ordered 500 of these mobile devices at a cost of 800,000 each. Thats some good money. Don’t we have a border problem with Mexico?
I think the airline and the tourist industries have already been hurt by the security measures and the general economy.

rustOctober 28, 2010 8:28 am

I think it would be more appropriate if groups of people just started stripping in line while waiting for the death-dose in the Rape-o-scan.

Imagine the outcry! Imagine the chaos! Imagine the outrage!

“How can you possibly get nekkid in public in front of strangers?!”

— “How can YOU possibly try to oblige me to get nekkid in front of some strangers and clowns with clubs in a locked room?”

TSA and the porno-scanners! | CLUTRAINOctober 28, 2010 8:41 am

[…] On a roll (and having recently written an article on the subject*), I went on about the TSA’s other lies — about the machines not having the capacity to store or transmit images, about possible health problems.I talked about being singled out for extra screening the one and only time I’ve flown in the last 13 years, and how stupid the criteria were. I told her I probably wouldn’t be flying again. Not if I could help it. Full Story […]

WinstonOctober 28, 2010 4:27 pm

Whoever mentioned it, I really like the idea of mailing the airlines/tourist departments/whatever a letter with some copies of gas receipts and whatnot.

Awhile back, sometime before the porn scanners went big, someone I know had to make a trip across a few states for medical reasons. TSA, in their infinite graciousness and wisdom told them straight up that liquid feeding tube food for a little kid wouldn’t be allowed at all on the plane, not even in a checked bag.
Should have gotten them to send an estimate of the prices of the rental car, gas, lodging and food that was needed to make the trip by land. (IIRC, it was still all much cheaper than the airline tickets anyway)

WinstonOctober 28, 2010 4:34 pm

Also I’m bringing a pocketfull of little blue pills with me in the event that I ever have to go though one of those things.

It is the airlines that have the most to lose if their customers boycott them. I suggest a computer literate person create a web site and spread it around facebook and other social media: People put in their names and addressed and sign a petition on the computer saying they will not travel by commercial airliner.

While you’re at it, take advertising from local air flights that do not want to see your nekkid butt, and match by ZIP code the ads to the petition signers. This site could make money and do a good deed at the same time.

The site should have a sample scan that is realistic and lurid…like one of an unusual-looking person or persons.

By the way, are they making flight attendants do this repeartedly? or pilots? or baggage handlers, the people who have the most opportunity to damage a plane in flight?

www.new-world-order-brazil.comOctober 29, 2010 3:52 am

In Brazil the bigbrother state is growing at large steps. Very soon brazilians will be required to have RFID chips and GPS trackers and blockers in every single car!!!

The brazilian government tries to show as a democratic and open one, but is eating at the hands of the new world order.

Click on my name above to read the details…

Please spread the news, the totalitarism needs to be exposed every where!!!

When we go to the District Attorney to file charges for sexual assault, and he/ she won’t prosecute (it isn’t politically correct), you may have to go to the court and file a mandamus to bring the prosecuting attorney before a judge to answer why he is not performing. his job as a public servant. This is the same remedy for agencies that won’t answer (Freedom of information) FOIA requests.
A principle of Justice + when one who is responsible for bringing justice does not do so, the blood is on his/ her head. We must begin to hold them accountable for ” And justice for all”

RaphaelNovember 7, 2010 4:49 am

Rust posted that maybe we should just start taking off all our clothes while waiting in line,See how long it would be until we were arrested for a sex crime, for indecent exposure, It is against the Law for us to undress in-public, but they can undress us.

Keep the powder dry

Dale FitzNovember 7, 2010 11:01 pm

I sent my letter today. It was short, sweet, and to the point- I simply said that my 3 nieces wanted to come to Disney World, but unless we could fly without them being molested, I would have to go to Dollywood instead. I hope this works…

BJNovember 13, 2010 2:13 pm

I firmly believe that all this security theatre is in preparation for a war with Iran that will widely spread thruout the world.
They are waiting for hillary clintons election in 2012 when the world will be changed worse than on 9/11.
Once certain tragic events take place in 2012(No, not the end of the world bs) we will be on a war footing with NO liberties!
.

Bobb HaleNovember 20, 2010 10:43 pm

I wonder if ww rutland realizes that El Al has armed people on every flight.

The reason this kind of garbage goes on is because you people continue to consent to it!

Go to the airport; wear your sweats, flip flops and jock strap or g-string; when you get to the scanners, get nekkid! Then hand em the little jar of vaseline. You may not get on the plane but the rest of the sheep will get the point. Give em’ something to think about while they’re eating turkey at gran’mas.

Front Sight certificates!

I’m not soliciting donations right now.

I'll be having a big fundraiser sometime in 2018. THEN I'll solicit donations like mad for a few weeks.

But a friend asked for these donation options. And should you just happen to be one of those wild-n-crazy generous people, far be it from me to discourage your wild-n-craziness.

First, you can PayPal.me That link lets you donate without me paying any fees. If you pay from your own PayPal balance or linked bank account, you won't pay any fees either. There's a small fee for paying via credit card. You DON'T have to have a PayPal account to use my PayPal.me link, but you will need to allow JavaScript if you surf with scripts turned off.

Then, a way to donate Bitcoin.

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